November 2, 2005

What I Learned At The Restaurants Today

Every dad should carry a straw snipper with him at all times, because straws are always too tall for little kids. Good luck going through the airport with it, though. [note: these little vasectomy promo scissors'd do the trick.]

Also, the hardest part of eating out with a kid is often the hungriest time, when you've just been seated, and you're waiting to order. That's when The Cheesecake Factory people bring out a baby plate: some banana slices and little pieces of bread. Brilliant.

Finally, the kid was wielding a giant dinner fork pretty well, considering, but she did best when she was choked up on it, holding it all the way down by the tines. Where are the stubby kid forks with ergonomic rubber grips, the forked equivalent of those scoop-shaped Tostitos?

Greg, Could you please give us a comparison between per se and Cheesecake Factory?
Posted by Eric at November 3, 2005 09:39 AM

[reposted from duplicate posting]

[Except for cruise ship buffets, CF is the apotheosis of the whole quantity=quality dining paradigm. The food is fine, but the whole value equation seems to be "gorge yourself and roll out the door with leftovers." As if they were trying to recreate the memorability of Thanksgiving every day or something. It's like that Simpsons where there was a disco, and every night was New Year's Eve. -ed.]

I think Arby's has the longest straws known to man. A friend kept a spare nail clipper in her purse especially designated for nipping those pesky straws. As long as you tell the TSA, you can still take it on the plane.

[dude, I thought of this at the Arby's in New Castle, Delaware--we prefer to stop for "real fast food," not "turnpike rest stop fast food" when we make the drive. -ed.]